Lost Tales of Ninja: Part 1
by Lil-Miaka
Summary: Shinjite was left out from the story, but now you are going to read what was forgotten. Episodes New character. It's the REAL story! I swear it's better than it sounds, and it'll make more sense as it progresses! CHAPTER TWO UP FINALLY!
1. Chapter 1

Lost Tales of Ninja:

Part 1

**Disclaimer:** I may not own the rights to Naruto, but I'm still Hinata…don't ask…But Shinjite is my sister's character, no mine.

**Note:** Shinjite will make, most likely, no sense yet, but I will slowly line up the pieces of who she is.

_The lost pieces of the puzzle are found, now to see how they fit._

Shinjite approached the village of Konoha, to be her home again. She sighed, the walk from the waterfall village to hidden leaf turned out to be tougher than she'd thought. Not wanting any bad impressions, Shinjite brushed the dirt off of her orange spaghetti-strap shirt, redid the bun in her bright blond hair, and tightened the headband she used as a belt for her blue shorts. Once she seemed presentable, Shinjite rushed into village, eager to see her Oni-chan again.

The team seven students were taking a lunch break from their "missions", which at this time seemed to just be a fancy name for chores that people were too lazy to take care of themselves. Naruto was halfway through his ramen cup; Sakura had finished her lunch already, at least as much as she could, and was gazing at Sasuke across the table, fantasizing. Sasuke was also finished, but he actually ate his entire meal. Seeing Sasuke finished made Naruto eat faster. It was the usual as things were.

"If you keep eating like that you're going to choke." Sasuke told Naruto matter-of-factly. Of course, the warning just aggravated Naruto more. Sure enough, at one point he gagged on his noodles, coughing to get them out of his lungs. "I told you." Sasuke muttered. Naruto stared daggers at his rival.

"YOU SHUDDUP!!" The blond yelled, jumping up from his seat. "You don't know everything, dattebayo!"

"Sit down!" Sakura hissed, hitting Naruto on the back of the head. "You're making a scene!" Yes, everything seemed normal for this team.

Not too long after they'd all finished their bickering, their sensei, Kakashi, appeared near them. He often seemed to appear out of nowhere whenever he showed up. "Hey there! Having fun?" He asked.

"Kakashi-sensei, there you are!" Sakura said as a way of greeting. "Say, where were you?"

"Eh? Well I was just waiting for someone to arrive in the village." He explained, his eyes closing as if he were laughing. "But they haven't arrived yet, and I could hear you guys all the way from where I was waiting." Naruto looked thoroughly embarrassed. He had no idea he'd been that loud.

"See what you did, Naruto!" Sakura growled.

"Please, Sakura-chan, you already hit me once for it!" Naruto pleaded. Sasuke just sighed and tried to ignore the surrounding chaos.

"ONIIIIIIIIICHAAAAN!!" A high-pitched, feminine, and loud voice then interrupted. Everyone turned their attention to the excited girl running in their direction, watching as her longish blond bangs waved past her gray-blue eyes. Least expected, she tackled Kakashi instantly.

"Shinjite-chan! Good to see you!" Kakashi laughed. The team seven students were confused, wondering who the hell this girl was.

"Wait, is this the person you were waiting for, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked as Kakashi pulled himself back up.

"Yes, she is." He answered. "This is my little sister, Shinjite-chan." They all looked at the jumping girl.

"Hatake Shinjite, eleven years old!" The girl said as her own introduction. It seemed she had a slight osakan accent.

"Wait, Kakashi-sensei has a sister?" Naruto asked.

Ignoring Naruto's comment, Shinjite proceeded to ask, "Now, who are you guys?"

"We're Kakashi-sensei's students. I'm Haruno Sakura!" Explained the girl with long pink hair and green eyes

"Uzumaki Naruto!" Exclaimed the boy with messy blond hair, blue eyes, and an orange outfit. He almost seemed like a male counterpart of Shinjite, which irritated her a little.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Said the strange boy with the jet-black hair styled like a cockatoo's, and an angsty expression

"Nice to meet ya guys!" She said, smiling widely. Then she peered behind them. "Hey, who's tipped over ramen is that?" She asked. Naruto turned around quickly to see his ramen cup flipped upside-down on the seat he had used previously.

"Nooo! My ramen, dattebayo!" He cried. "And I'm still hungry, too!"

Shinjite turned away the devastated Naruto, and looked to Sakura. "You're really pretty!"

Sakura was shocked for a moment by Shinjite's short attention span. Then she smiled, "Oh, really? Thanks!" And Sakura's inner-self was saying _"Hell yeah! This girl obviously knows what she's talking about!"_ Then something occurred to her. "Hey, why aren't you with a team?"

"Well I graduated at about four and a half, and then I went to the waterfall village and trained and graduated, and I kinda became a lone ninja…" Shinjite began to explain, then stared mumbling. Sasuke turned suddenly, Sakura's jaw dropped, and Naruto slipped.

"Lone ninja?" Sasuke asked.

"Four and a half?!" Sakura yelled.

"What…eh…neba…huh?" Naruto stumbled. Shinjite stood there smiling.

Sasuke smirked. "Well, what would you say to a challenge then?" After hearing this, Shinjite's silly smile changed into a devious grin.

"That's more like it!" She answered.

"This should be interesting." Kakashi commented.

Sasuke and Shinjite both got into fighting positions. She was a little excited, as it had been a while sense she'd fought with someone.

"HEY! You better not hurt Sasuke-kun!!" Sakura yelled.

Ignoring Sakura completely Shinjite charged at Sasuke, crouched extremely low. She was pretty fast despite her slightly short stature. In an instant she seemed to be passing Sasuke's legs, and she launched her elbow right at the back of his knee.

He moved around just an instant before impact, leaving Shinjite to roll into the dirt. She instantly jumped up and spun around, to show that she didn't give up so easily. She ran quickly to get closer, faked a punch, ducked around behind him, and yelled "Surprise!" While slapping him in the back of the head. Sasuke stumbled forward from the unexpected sissy attack.

"What the HELL was THAT?!" Sakura yelled.

"Shinjite tends to mock people by being ridiculous in battle." Kakashi explained. "Even if she's matched in strength, she'll act in weird ways, mostly to confuse."

More punches were thrown, a few landing, and Sasuke grew tired of it after a while. He reached into his pouch, withdrawing a kunai unseen. When Shinjite drew near enough, he quickly slashed across her arm.

"GAH!" Shinjite gasped, jumping away and looking at him with the eyes of a scared and abused animal.

"Oi, oi, oi!!" Kakashi yelled out. "Nothing _too_ dangerous here!" While Sasuke's attention was on Kakashi, Shinjite jumped over his head, and turned to face her target.

"Hai, onichan!" She called back.

"Damn." Sasuke muttered to himself in an inaudible whisper. When he tried to turn on his foot to face Shinjite, a horrible pain shot through his let. His foot had not followed the way it was supposed to. He yelled out and fell over.

Shinjite stood confused. "Wait…did I just win?" She asked. Sakura ran over to Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun! Are you alright?" She asked worriedly.

"Fine. Just a twisted ankle." He answered reluctantly.

"That's what happens when you don't stretch." Shinjite pointed out when she suddenly appeared crouched beside them. They couldn't help wondering how she'd gotten so close so quick without them noticing. Probably a skill she had picked up from Kakashi. "So, I haven't won fairly yet." She paused. "Oh well, we can continue this some other time." She smiled, got up and turned to leave. "Anyway, I've gotta go. I need to get readjusted to the village." She began to walk off, when suddenly she tripped over a rock. "I'm okay!!" She shouted. Then she ran off, and disappeared behind a corner.

"What the hell was all that about?" Naruto asked.


	2. Chapter 2: Important mission!

CHAPTER 2: Important mission! Heading to the Country of the Wave!

(Note: Now you will know the time frame this is taking place in! Also, I used the subs of a Japanese English-subbed thing from youtube for most of it…so don't blame me for mistranslations.)

Sasuke's ankle seemed to heal up quickly, and not before long he was ready to do missions with the rest of his team.

Meanwhile, Shinjite was experiencing the most boring time of her life. No one seemed to be wherever she was. So she tried drawing chibis, or reading her manga and making commentary. Mostly, they didn't help much.

"This is Sasuke, arrived at point B." Sasuke spoke into a headset devise.

"This is Sakura, arrived at point C." Sakura said into a headset microphone of her own.

After a moment, "This is Naruto, arrived at point A, dattebayo." Naruto also checked in.

"Your slow, Naruto." Kakashi observed. He too was talking into a headset, as he was the one they were reporting to. "Okay, seventh unit…" He began. He was quickly interrupted by a quick shadow jumping from tree to bush. "The target has moved. After it!"

The three ninja peeked out from their hiding places behind the trees.

"Okay, he's there." Naruto confirmed. They all moved behind new hiding places, trees closer to the target.

"What is the distance to the target?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto, back pressed up against the tree, was the one to answer. "Five meters. I'm ready to go, dattebayo."

"I am too." Sasuke replied.

"Me too." Sakura echoed.

"Okay." Kakashi began. They waited for his signal. "Go!"

All three ninjas took off right for the target at once. Naruto wrapped his arms around the flailing cat that they were pursuing. "I got you!" The cat wailed loudly in response. It began to throw extended claws at the blond. Naruto had difficulty holding it back from his face.

"Does it have a ribbon on its right ear?" Kakashi asked. "Is it our target, Tora?" By then the cat had managed to get past Naruto's defense, and began scratching his face, continuing to scream in protest. Sakura simply watched.

"It's the target for sure." Sasuke answered. Tora stomped on Naruto's face.

"Okay. 'Operation Capture Tora the lost Pet' complete." Kakashi confirmed.

"ISN'T THERE A MORE EXCITING MISSION WE CAN WORK ON, DATTEBAYO?!" Naruto screamed into his microphone, getting static feedback and giving Kakashi an earache.

The over-weight woman snuggled the cat tightly. "Ohh, my cute Tora-chan! I was so worried about you!" The said woman was the wife of the Country of Fire's feudal lord, Madam Shijimi.

Naruto laughed at the look of torture on the cat's face. "That cat's getting what he deserves, dattebayo. Baka neko."

"No wonder he ran away…" Sakura added.

"Now then, Kakashi's seventh unit's next mission is…" The Hokage started. "Baby sitting Yojyu-sama's boy. Grocery shopping at the neighboring town. Helping dig up potatoes at…"

"NO!!" Naruto yelled. "No-thank-you to all of those! I want to do a more exciting mission! Choose something else!"

_There's some truth to that._ Thought Sasuke.

_What a troublesome guy._ Thought Sakura.

Kakashi simply sighed. _I knew he was going to do this soon._

Shinjite was walking by, today wearing her leaf head band on her head as well as her waterfall headband as a belt; when she heard Naruto's screaming complaints. She tiptoed in to listen in on what was going on. Maybe she could find something to do with her time.

"Baka-yaro!" Iruka yelled. Shinjite looked towards Iruka and wondered if he remembered her. It had been about seven years since she'd last seen him and last time she saw him, he was seventeen. One thing she knew was that she'd never heard him yell at someone like that. "You're still a novice ninja!" He continued. "Everyone needs to start with easy missions to gain experience!"

"But, but…!" Naruto yelled back. "We've only been doing dumb missions lately!" Kakashi then hit Naruto on the head, knocking him to the floor. Shinjite had been considering doing that herself a moment before.

"Cut it out." Kakashi said. Shinjite stifled her giggling.

"Naruto!" The Hokage began. "It looks like I need to explain to you what missions are."

Naruto stopped complaining about the sore spot on his head, and looked at the Hokage.

_Man, this is gonna turn into a real boring lecture, I know it!_ Though Shinjite.

"Listen, a lot of clients come to this village every day. They request things from babysitting to assassinations." He set his pipe down. "On the request list, a variety of requests are listed on it…and they are separated into ranks A, B, C, and D according to difficulty. In this village we separate people into Jounins, Chuunins, and Genins according to their abilities. We higher officials assign the missions to ninja with the appropriate abilities. And if we complete the mission, we receive a fee from the client." Just as he was saying that, Madam Shijimi was handing a wad of money to the people.

"You have all become Genin just recently, so D ranked missions are best for you." The Hokage continued. "Hmm?"

Naruto's attention span had apparently ended in the middle of the Hokage's speech, and he had begun talking to the others about the type of ramen he planed to have that day. The same thing had happened to Shinjite's attention span; she had begun to count the boards on the ceiling.

"LISTEN!!" The Hokage yelled, mainly at Naruto.

"I…I'm sorry." Kakashi apologized, rubbing the back of his head.

Naruto, sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, hopped around to face the Hokage. "Huh? You always lecture me like that, ji-chan." He complained, "But I'm not the kid who used to pull pranks anymore!" He turned back around and huffed. Kakashi sighed and rubbed the back of his head again.

_I'm going to get scolded later… _He thought.

Iruka smiled, followed by the Hokage.

_He was only able to express himself through pranks, but…_He began thinking. "Okay, I understand." Naruto seemed surprised to actually hear this, along with the rest of his team. "If you insist…I will allow you to take on a C ranked mission. It's to escort a certain person."

"Really?!" Naruto asked, turning back around and smiling. "Who? Who?" Shinjite was listening intently as well. "The feudal lord? Or a princess?" Naruto continued excitedly.

"Don't get so hasty." The Hokage said, still smiling. "I'll introduce him now…Can you please come in now?" He called past them. They all turned to look at the door as it slid open. The man stood there and looked at them.

"What? They're all kids!" He complained, following up with a big swig of his beer. Naruto stood to get a better look at the guy. He was an old man, tanned from outdoor work, backed up by a sweaty towel draped around the back of his neck; his face reddened from drunkenness beneath a pair of lowered glasses. You could tell his hairline was starting to recede by the rope tied around his head marking a bit of distance from the gray hair. He had a scruffy beard to mach his unkempt hair, except with alcohol from his beer soaked into it. "Hey, is the smallest one there with the stupid face really a ninja?"

Naruto laughed. "Who's the smallest one with the stupid face?" Both Sakura and Sasuke looked at him and scooted closer to show that they were taller than he was (Shinjite wasn't even in the old man's sight). That's when it registered. "I'm going to kill you!" He screamed. Kakashi held him back, but Naruto still scrambled to try and get the guy.

"Don't kill the man you're supposed to escort, aho." Kakashi reminded him.

The man finished another chug of his beer, and introduced himself. "I'm the bridge building expert, Tazuna." He explained. "Once I've returned to my country, I'll have all of you protect my life with yours while I complete the bridge."

This was the moment that Shinjite chose to speak up. "Oi! Take me with you!" She yelled, jumping in front of them.

"What the-?!" Sakura blurted, jumping back.

"Oh, Shinjite. How long have you been there?" Kakashi asked casually, as if he was used to her popping up.

"Please take me with you on your mission!" Shinjite begged, ignoring Kakashi's question. "I have nothing else to do!" She grabbed her older brother's leg. "Please, please, PLEEASE UWAAAAA!!" She followed this up with a puppy-dog pout. A sweat-drop crawled down Naruto's head.

"Wha…what's with that face?" He asked.

"Okay, you can come along, just get off my leg." Kakashi replied.

She jumped up. "THANK YOU, ONII-CHAN!!"

"This is the group escorting me?" Tazuna asked himself. He could feel a headache coming on. "This is going to be a long trip…"

After just leaving the front gate of the village, Naruto turned to face everyone else and stretched his arms up into the air in a celebratory way. "All right!" He cheered. "Let's go!"

"What are you all excited for?" Sakura asked him.

"What's _not_ to be excited about!" Shinjite threw in.

"He just seems more excited then normal, that's all."

Naruto looked around. "That's because I've never gone outside the village before 'ttebayo!"

Tazuna watched Naruto spaz out like a kid at a candy store. "Hey, will a kid like this really be capable of this mission?"

That comment really seemed to piss Naruto off, and made Kakashi laugh. "I, a Jounin, will be accompanying you. There's no need to worry."

Naruto just kept hearing "Will a kid like this really be capable…" echo in his head. _This geezer is the worst client ever._ Naruto thought. _I need to say something. _Naruto turned right around and pointed at the old man, calling him out. "Hey, geezer, don't underestimate ninja! I'm a great ninja!"

"Yay ninja!" Shinjite interjected.

He smiled coyly, ignoring Shinjite's background noise. "I'm the elite ninja who will receive the title of Hokage one day. The name is Uzumaki Naruto. Remember it!"

Tazuna took another gulp of his beer. "Hokage is the village's number one ninja, right?" He asked. "I don't think a guy like you can become one."

"SHUT UP!" Naruto screeched back, a vain throbbing in his head. "I'm willing to go through any hardship to become Hokage! _If _I become Hokage, you'll have to notice me!"

"I won't, kid. That is, even _if_ you become Hokage."

Naruto was ready to pounce on Tazuna and attack him.

Shinjite placed her hand on his shoulder. "Oi, don't take it too personally Naruto-san, spazzes are capable too!"

"Th…that's not helping!" He groaned.

"I, for one, want to one day be one of the best shinobi ever known. Or at least one of the best kunoichi." She explained, staring into space. "I don't want any fancy titles like 'Kage' of any sort, I just want to be known for something great…" Then she just sat there staring out in space for a moment.

"Um…hellooo?" Naruto waved his hand in front of her face. "Shinjite?" She snapped back to reality. "Oh! Right! Um…lost my point."

"What the heck?! You forgot just like that?!"

"As if your attention span's any better."

Unknown to any of them, they were being watched…

"Hey, Tazuna-san…" Sakura begun.

"What is it?" He asked.

"You're from the country of the wave, right?" She asked.

"What about it?"

"Kakashi-sensei, are there also ninja in that country?"

"No, there are no ninja in the Country of Wave." Kakashi answered. "But while, the culture and customs of other countries may be different, hidden villages and ninja do exist."

_Here comes more education._ Shinjite thought to herself, sighing.

"To the many countries that exist on this land…the existence of ninja villages is the equivalent of the country's military powers. In other words, that is how they are able to maintain the relationship with neighboring countries. But the villages aren't under control of that country. They are supposedly equal in position. On a small island like the Country of the Wave, where it's difficult to be influenced by other countries there is no need for a ninja village.

"Among the countries that have a ninja village, since the five countries of fire, water, lightning, wind, and earth occupy a large mass of land and their powers are immense, they are known as the Five Great Ninja Powers. Country of Fire's Hidden Village of Konoha. Country of Water's Hidden Village of Kiri. Country of Lightning's Hidden Village of Kumo. Country of Wind's Hidden Village of Suna. Country of Earth's Hidden Village of Iwa. Only the leader of each hidden village is allowed to carry the name 'Kage'. Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazukage, and Tsuchikage, otherwise known as the 'Five Kages', are the ninja that reign over the tens of thousands of ninja that exist in the countries throughout the world."

"Wow. So Hokage-sama must be a great man!" Sakura praised. Her Inner Self was meanwhile glaring suspiciously _"Is that old geezer really a great man as he says he is? Sounds fishy…"_

Naruto remembered using his Oiroke no Jutsu (_sexy jutsu_) around the Hokage and causing the old man a nosebleed. _It must be a lie, yes, a lie._ He concluded to himself, nodding.

"Oi." Kakashi broke in; stopping and making them stop. There lay an awkward silence for a moment. "You all just doubted Hokage-sama, didn't you?" He accused. Both Naruto and Sakura shook their heads in denial. Shinjite was the only one to turn back and look at Kakashi.

"Well I didn't…I have nothing to go off of." She admitted.

Kakashi decided to drop the subject. He stepped over to Sakura and placed his hand on top her head. "Don't worry. We won't have any ninja battles in a C ranked mission." He assured her. She seemed relieved to hear that.

"Then there's no need to worry about meeting a foreign ninja." She speculated.

"Of course." Kakashi confirmed, followed with a laugh.

Naruto couldn't help but notice the nervous look Tazuna had, but he decided not to bring it up.

"Oi, you." Shinjite blurted, pointing to Sasuke. "Sasuke-san."

Turned and looked confused at the fact she decided to suddenly address him.

"Oi, do you ever talk? You're too quiet today!" She complained. "You haven't said a single word this whole time! I-" Sasuke just started walking away, ignoring her. "W-wait! Don't just walk away when I'm talking to you! That's just rude!" She huffed and folded her arms. The rest of them started walking again as well.

"Don't mind him, he's just an angsty _looser_." Naruto pointed out.

Shinjite looked at Sasuke for a moment. "His hair looks like a duck's butt." She noted, snickering.

This comment made Naruto do a double-take look at Sasuke's hair. "Wait…it really does!" He broke into laughter.

Right then Sakura's Inner Self was going crazy. _"HOW DARE THEY MAKE FUN OF SASUKE-KUN'S COOL HAIR!!"_ She had half a mind to hit them both. "Will you two shut up? You're so immature!"

"Fine, fine." Shinjite sighed, elbowing Naruto in the side. "Sakura-san has a bit of a point."

They walked by an average looking puddle, that no one but Kakashi seemed to pay any mind to. Once they'd passed, a water ninja peeked out from the puddle. It was just a disguise. The ninja rose the rest of the way up and out of the puddle, then flung his accomplice into the air. Kakashi turned to look just in time to see a bladed chain firing at him, quickly wrapping around and binding him. The two attackers appeared instantly on either side of him, holding the ends of the chains.

"What?!" Naruto cried in confusion.

"Gah!" Shinjite gasped. "What's going on!?"

Both the enemy ninja pulled the chains to swiftly chop their captive to bits with the blades. "First one!" they announced proudly, as Kakashi was torn to shreds before his own students. Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Shinjite, and even Tazuna all stared unblinkingly in mortified horror. After the initial shock, Shinjite screamed at the top of her lungs, tears bursting from her eyes. Sakura's yelp of terror was not even audible over Shinjite's sound.

"K-Kakashi-sensei!!" Naruto yelled out. The attackers then appeared behind Naruto. When the boy realized this, he didn't know what to do. His stomach dropped into a bottomless pit, a sticky cold sweat clung to the back of his neck. "Second one." they whispered directly to their target. He turned to find them heading for him with those spiked chains flying. He couldn't think. Nothing but terror and impending death.

Sasuke jumped up on instinct, grabbed his shuriken and kunai, and threw only the shuriken. The projectile caught the chain, and held it to a nearby tree. He finished by throwing the kunai directly through the hole in the shuriken, pinning both that and the chain to the tree. The enemies were stuck then, by the chains' attachment to their arms.

"It won't come out!" said one. Naruto was frozen in complete shock. Sasuke landed with one foot on each of the chain-attached, claw-like arms. He placed his hands firmly in the place of his feet then, and kicked both of the ninjas in their jaws.

_Wow._ Naruto thought in amazement, though still a bit shook up.

With a curse muttered inaudible, the two attackers detached the chain from their claw-arms, and went off at two different targets. One went right for Naruto. The other headed for Tazuna. Sakura saw the latter one, because she had stuck close to Tazuna the whole time. _He's coming…_ She thought. _I have to do it…I have to do it!_ She moved in front of the old man, and cried "Oji-san! Get back!"

Shinjite looked from one person to the next. Too many things going on. Two people being attacked at once. She had no choice but to act for the one closest to her for the moment. "Out of the way!" She screeched, shoving Naruto away from the attacker with enough force to knock him to the ground, putting herself in the place of him. She wasn't fast enough that Naruto went uninjured…the attacker's claws managed to scrape by Naruto's hand at the last minute. Shinjite didn't notice this, but reacted quickly, scooping her foot around and up in an instant, impacting the man right below the rib cage and knocking him into the air…

Sasuke turned and saw the one heading for Sakura, and placed himself as a second barrier for her. He was heading straight for them. Just five inches now. Snap! The enemy's head was pulled back in an arm. The opposite arm held the other attacker, who he caught after Shinjite's kick. The kids all looked up in shock, even Naruto from his place in the dirt. It was Kakashi, standing proud and very well alive.

"Yo." Kakashi greeted them.

_Kakashi-sensei! _Sakura exclaimed in her head excitedly, smiling with and equivalent expression. _He's alive!_ It was amazing.

Meanwhile Sasuke had more of a comically irritated expression. _What a show-off._ He thought to himself, having already realized what his sensei had pulled off.

Shinjite rushed over to Kakashi, and instantly embraced him by his waist. "Don't do that onii-chan! You scared me!"

Naruto just stared in amazement for a moment. Suddenly, he realized what had happened, and turned to look back where earlier Kakashi had been "torn to shreds". _Then, that was…_ Instead of chopped body parts…were pieces of chopped up wood. _Kakashi sensei used the Kawarimi Technique. _

Kakashi, now free from Shinjite's hug, turned his head to look at Naruto. "Naruto, sorry for not helping out right away." He apologized. "I got you hurt. I didn't think you wouldn't be able to move."

"Onii-chan…that was my fault, I wasn't fast enough." Shinjite corrected, looking down disappointedly.

"You still did good, Shinjite-chan." He assured her, patting her on the head. She smiled at this.

Tazuna exhaled desperately. That had been too close a call, he thought they were finished. Sweat still clung to his brow, and his heart was pounding too fast to be healthy for a man of his age. _I'm saved…_

"Anyway, Sasuke, good job." He congratulated his student. "Sakura, you too."

Naruto was suddenly struck with horror and shame. _I…couldn't do anything._ He realized. _But Sasuke was able to in his very first real battle…_Naruto looked over to the other boy, with his 'I-could-care-less' expression. _He wasn't afraid at all? Are you saying he helped me with that calm face without soiling his clothes at all?_

"Hey." Sasuke said, turning to look at Naruto. The blond boy nearly jumped out of his skin. What was even creeper was the fact that Sasuke had a little smile on his face.

"Look, it speaks!" Shinjite teased at the Uchiha boy.

Sasuke completely ignored Shinjite **again**, and continued what he was saying to Naruto. "Are you hurt…bibi-kun?" "bibi-kun" is the equivalent of "scaredy-cat"

Naruto was struck with insult added to injury. His blood boiled. Who did Sasuke think he was anyway, speaking all high and mighty? Naruto was just about ready to scream. "SASUKE-"

"Naruto!" Kakashi interrupted in a sharp tone. The pissed-off blond stopped and turned on his heal to face his sensei. "There's poison on these guys' claws. We need to take out the poison right away." He explained.

"Eh?!" Naruto gasped. He looked at the back of his left hand, with scratch marks from the claws, still bleeding.

"We have to open your wound and leech out the poisoned blood." Kakashi continued. "Don't move that much, or the poison will spread through your body."

Then, still facing towards Naruto, Kakashi addressed Tazuna. "By the way, Tazuna-san…"

"W-what is it?" The old man asked, anticipating the question at hand.

"I need to talk to you." Kakashi stated in a serious tone.

After tying both the ninja who attacked them to the nearest tree, Kakashi stepped back. "These guys are Chuunin-class ninja from the Hidden Village of Kiri." He explained. "They are shinobi known to keep fighting no matter the cost."

"How were you able to detect our action?" One of the Mist-Ninja asked, a tone of bitterness on his breath.

"It hasn't rained for the past few days, and it's sunny today, so a water puddle shouldn't exist." Kakashi concluded.

"Why did you let the kids fight if you knew that?" Tazuna asked.

"If I was up to it, I could have killed these two in the blink of an eye. But…I needed to know who the target for these two was." Kakashi answered, eyeing Tazuna.

"What do you mean?" The old man asked, acting as if he was clueless.

Kakashi turned and faced Tazuna directly. "In other words, were _you_ being targeted, or somebody in our ninja group? We haven't heard anything about _you_ being targeted by shinobi. Your request was to protect you from armed groups like gangs and robbers. This is a mission that is above B rank." Tazuna was beginning to realize that playing dumb wouldn't work, Kakashi was already figuring out what was going on. "Our job was to support and guard you until you completed the bridge. If ninja are our enemy, this mission would have been an expensive B rank."

"Y-you mean…Tazuna-dono couldn't afford B rank…so he…" Shinjite interjected. It was difficult for her to be quiet for too long.

"Yes." Kakashi answered before his little sister finished. "It looks like you have your reasons, but it only troubles us if you lie in your request details." He said, addressing Tazuna once more. "This wasn't part of the mission."

"This mission is out of our league." Sakura, short on breath, pointed out. "Let's quit!" She requested. "We need anesthesia to take the poisoned blood out of Naruto, too. We need to go back to the village and see a doctor!"

Every bone in Shinjite's body wanted to disagree with Sakura, that they had to finish the mission anyway. But considering Naruto's life was on the line because of the poison…she had to agree.

Kakashi looked at Naruto after Sakura's statement. Naruto was just staring at his hand with a frustrated expression, untill he realized that Kakashi, Shinjite, and Sakura were looking at him (he didn't really give a damn where Sasuke was looking).

"This sure is a burden. Let's go back to the village to cure Naruto." Kakashi announced to the group.

Naruto glared and bared his teeth in outrage. He wasn't about to let himself be the reason they failed their mission. Just because of the stupid poison. He quickly drew a kunai out of his pouch, holding it in the air for all to see, brought it down and plunged it into the back of his left hand. His blood gushed out from the wound. Everyone (yes, even Sasuke) stared in absolute shock. Sakura gasped. Naruto cringed, but gave no other signs of pain.

"WHAT THE HELL?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Shinjite screamed at him from about three meters away.

Naruto faced away from them, cradling his bleeding hand. "Why am I so different…why am I always…" He began. "Damn it."

Sakura took a stride closer. "Naruto, what are you doing?"

"I should be stronger…" Naruto continued. "I've accomplished lots of missions and I've practiced justu every day…" His blood dripped. "I'm never going to do something that will require someone to help me. I'm never going to be frightened and try to back out on things. I'm not going to lose to Sasuke. I vow that to this pain in my left hand. I'm going to protect the old man with this kunai!" He turned back around to face the others, holding his hand up, level with his face. His other hand was still holding the kunai in place, and his face showed nothing but determination…until he smirked and chuckled. "The mission is still on." He announced.

"Naruto, it's nice that you took out the poisoned blood so spiritedly…" Kakashi began, "But you're going to die from loss of blood if any more comes out."

They all stood in awkward silence for a moment.

Naruto's face started to turn blue in panic, his wounded hand twitching, and sweat streaming down his face. Kakashi slid right next to him, crouched down, his eyes closed like he was laughing. "It's not good if you don't stop it right away. Seriously." The sensei cautioned in a rather cheerful tone. That was all it took to send the blond twelve-year-old into total panic. Naruto ran around in circles, waving his injured hand around.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" He shouted. "I can't die like this!"

"Show me your hand." Kakashi instructed calmly. Naruto did as he was told, though still spazing.

"No! Help me!" He wailed.

"Naruto, you have a self-abusing personality." Sakura observed. "That's called masochism, you know."

"Technically, didn't he just break the first promise he made in that monologue of his?" Shinjite wondered aloud.

Kakashi stared intensely at Naruto's hand. _His wound is already starting to heal._ He observed mentally, watching as a faint red glow seemed to stitch the wound back up.

"Hey…hey…" Naruto stammered shakily.

"Hmm?" Kakashi looked up at a still blue-faced Naruto.

"Am I…okay?" The blond boy asked nervously. "You have a serious look on your face."

Kakashi took out some gauze he had among the supplies they brought, and wrapped it around Naruto's hand. "You should be okay." Kakashi assured him. _It must be the Kyuubi's power._ The masked sensei concluded.

Later, deep in a forest, far from the position of Kakashi's seventh unit…

"Failed?!" The growth-stunted mob boss barked. "I spent a lot of money to hire all of you because I heard you were all skilled ninja!"

The one man chilling out in the comfy-chair grabbed the hilt of his sword. "Stop complaining." He growled. The enormous sword swung out, the end of it skimmed dangerously close to the short man's throat. "I'll use this decapitating 'knife' and kill that guy."

Gulping, the little man peaked over his sunglasses. "Are you really sure you guys will be okay? It looks like the enemy has hired good shinobi…and since the Demon Brothers failed in the assassination, they'll be more cautious, so it won't be easy…"

"Who do you think I am?" The man in the chair asked. "I, Momochi Zabuza, was called the Demon of the Hidden Village of Kiri."


End file.
